The city of Pueblo will unveil alternatives for a $2.5 million Fountain Creek improvement project at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the media center at Risley Middle School, 625 N. Monument Ave.

Design Concepts and Team Pain have taken suggestions from a public meeting in September to develop some alternatives for the project, which will include wheel parks — designed to accommodate bicycles and skateboards — and improved access to Fountain Creek. The project will be in the area near El Centro del Quinto Sol, and will mean permanent closure of Erie Avenue between Sixth and Eighth Streets.

One of the ideas is to include sandy beach areas adjacent to Fountain Creek, rather than water features in the creek itself, said Beritt Odom, senior planner for the city of Pueblo.

“The skateboard park will be 30,000-35,000 square feet, but the skate features are broken up, imbedded in the park and down into the creek,” Odom said. “We want what’s already there to be minimally disrupted.”

The damage to Fountain Creek in September and further investigation of the structure of the trail on the east side of Fountain Creek have changed some elements of the overall plan, Odom added.

The initial plan was to increase access to Fountain Creek, but now the designers are looking at adding sandy beach areas for activities like volleyball that are not within the creek’s banks. High water in September coated the trails along Fountain Creek in mud that was relatively easy to clear, but it would not be prudent to invest money in something that would be subject to future flooding, she said.

The city also found that the concrete under the East Fourth Street Bridge is 14 inches thick, and it would not be cost-effective to remove the trail to widen it at that point.

“We’re still looking at lighting the underpasses (on Fourth and Eighth Streets) and removing the hiding spots,” Odom said.

The project is being funded by $1 million in funds approved by Pueblo County voters in 2006, $200,000 from a state conservation grant and $1.3 million from a Great Outdoors Colorado grant.